Astroblog

Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Fuzzy blob vs the Moon, comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy New Year's Eve 2014

Despite thin high cloud and a waxing Moon comet Lovejoy was still easily seen with 10 x 50 binoculars but appeared fainter against the bright sky. The tail of Lepus the rabbit nicely framed the comet. Saw a satellite go through the field, accompanied by early fireworks.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 1 to Thursday January 8

The Full Moon is Monday January 5. Venus is low in the
evening
sky with Mercury not far below it. Mars is easily visible
in the early evening. Jupiter is
prominent in the morning sky and is visited by the Moon on the 8th and 9th. Saturn rises in the morning sky.
Comet C/2102 Q2 Lovejoy is easily visible in
binoculars in
the early evening and is visible to the unaided eye in dark sky sites.

The Full Moon is Monday January 5. Earth is at perihelion, closest to the Sun, on the 4th.

Evening sky on Saturday January 3 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:00
(9:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Mars is high in the twilight, with Venus and Mercury close together below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Venus is now easy to see low on the western horizon in the twilight. At
civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is over a hand-span
above the horizon. While Venus is bright you will still need a reasonably flat, clear horizon to see it.

Mercury is just below Venus, the two are at their closest next week on the 11th.

Mars
is still easily seen low in the western evening sky, setting around 11:00 pm daylight saving time. Mars was
at opposition, when it
is biggest and brightest, on the 9th of April, and
is still
readily distinguishable as the bright red/orange object above the western horizon in the early evening.

Mars is in the constellation of Capricornius.

Morning sky on Thursday January 8 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:00 am ACDST showing Jupiter. The waning Moon is close to Jupiter at this time. The inset shows
Jupiter's Moons at 5:00 am. Jupiter is the brightest object
above the northern horizon. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky, and is easy to see above the
horizon before twilight. Jupiter is the brightest object above the
northern horizon. It is now not far from the bright star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion).

Jupiter is now high enough for good telescopic observation before
astronomical twilight. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display, and there is transit of Callisto on the 8th.

Jupiter enters the evening sky just before 11 pm daylight saving time, but is still best observed in the morning.

Evening sky on Saturday January 5 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 22:00
(10:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is above Rigel. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy
is brightening in the sky.
The comet is passing above Orion and Rigel heading towards Taurus.

It is brightest on January 11, but is
easily visible in binoculars now and people in dark sky sites have been
able to see it with the unaided eye. Binoculars or small telescopes show
it as a definite fuzzy patch about a quarter of the size of the Moon. Instructions on viewing the comet and
printable finding charts can be found here.

By the end of the week the brightening Moon will make it difficult to see, unaided eye views may be impossible.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with the comet brightening rapidly in the early evening sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy 29 December 2014

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy sketched under difficult conditions, very cool and windy with clouds. The moon was at first quarter.

The comet was close to the faint magnitude 8 globular cluster M79. In the moonlight it just looked like a faint star but I was surprised to see that it was there (and my star positions and relative magnitudes were not too far out) when I checked against Stellarium

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy 28-12-14

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy sketched on 28 December using 10 x 50 binoculars on a tripod. The comet is bigger than 47 Tucana but dimmer. Didn't bring my charts so I can't reliably estimate magnitude. Very easy to find in binoculars even with the waxing Moon. No hint of tail with binoculars. With moonlight no hope of seeing it with the unaided eye.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy, 20th and 23rd of December

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 23-12-14 with my Canon IXUS point and
shoot. 10x 15 second exposures ISO 400 stacked with deep sky stacker.
and cropped to the region of interest, showing Phract (alpha Columba) and the comet (Click to embiggen)

In binoculars it is an easy catch, and in my Canon point and shoot images it has significantly brightened. I made it out to be magnitude 5.8, other estimates have been around 5.6-5.7. Well into the unaided eye range under dark skies.

18-12-14. 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted

19-12-14. 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted

20-12-14. 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted

I have extended my comparison of the comets tail out to three days, the images are 5x180 second luminance images Bin 2 taken with iTelescopeT12 stacked in
ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted. North is to the top.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 25 to Thursday January 1

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday December 29. Venus is low in the evening
sky with Mercury below it. Mars is easily visible
in the early evening and is visited by the Moon on the 25th. Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky. Saturn rises in the morning sky.
Comet C/2102 Q2 Lovejoy is easily visible in
binoculars in
the early evening is visible to the unaided eye in dark sky sites.

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday December 29. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 25th.

Evening sky on Thursday December 25 looking west as seen from Adelaide at
21:00
(9:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. The thin crescent Moon is close to Mars, with Venus and Mercury below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Mercury is low in the twilight, and is visible with flat, clear horizons.

Venus is now easy to see low on the western horizon in the twilight. At
civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is just over a hand-span
above the horizon. While Venus is bright you will need a reasonably flat, clear horizon to see it.

Mars
is still easily seen low in the western evening sky, setting around 11:00 pm daylight saving time. Mars was
at opposition, when it
is biggest and brightest, on the 9th of April, and
is still
readily distinguishable as the bright red/orange object above the western horizon in the early evening.

Mars is in the constellation of Capricornius. On the 25th it is visited by the crescent Moon.

Morning sky on Saturday December 27 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:00 am ACDST showing Jupiter. The inset shows
Jupiter's Moons on the 29th at 5:00 am. Jupiter is the brightest object
above the northern horizon. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky, and is easy to see above the
horizon before twilight. Jupiter is the brightest object above the
northern horizon. It is now not far from the bright star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion).

Jupiter is now high enough for good telescopic observation before
astronomical twilight. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display, and there is an occulation of Europa and an transit of Ganymede on the 29th at around 5 am.

Jupiter enters the evening sky just after 11 pm daylight saving time, but is still best observed in the morning.

Evening sky on Thursday December 25 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00
(10:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is between Canopus and Rigel. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy
is brightening in the sky much faster than expected.
The comet is passing between the star Canopus and Rigel heading towards Orion,
passing above Canis Major.

It is brightest in January, but is
easily visible in binoculars now and people in dark sky sites have been
able to see it with the unaided eye. Binoculars or small telescopes show
it as a definite fuzzy patch about a quarter of the size of the Moon. Instructions on viewing the comet and
printable finding charts can be found here. Detailed instructions for Christmas day are here.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with the comet brightening rapidly in the early evening sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

How to see Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy on Christmas

Horizon chart facing east at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy as seen from Adelaide. Similar views will be seen from Southern Hemisphere locations at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen

Close up chart facing east at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet C/2014 Q2
Lovejoy to aid star hopping with binoculars or telescope. Click to embiggen

Binocular chart at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet C/2014 Q2
Lovejoy. The field of view is approximately the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is providing an amazing spectacle for telescopic viewers. Its ion tail is thin and dim, but photographic images have revealed a wealth of detail. In binoculars it is easily visible, even under suburban skies, as a distinct circular fuzzy patch, looking like a large globular cluster.

Now at magnitude 5.6-5.8, many people with dark skies have reported seeing it with the unaided eye. It is not visible to the unaided eye from my suburban location, but many of you are about to head off camping or caravaning or down to beach shacks for Christmas, where the skies will be dark.

Why not give looking for Lovejoy a go? It will not be as spectacular as comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy (also a Terry Lovejoy Christmas comet), you do not have to get up at 4 am to see it.

Printable black and white horizon chart facing east at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet
C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy as seen from Adelaide. Similar views will be seen from
Southern Hemisphere locations at the equivalent local time. Click to
embiggen and print

Printable black and white close up chart facing east at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet C/2014 Q2
Lovejoy to aid star hopping with binoculars or telescope. Click to embiggen and print

Printable black and white binocular chart at 22:00 ACDST showing the location of comet C/2014 Q2
Lovejoy. The circle is approximately the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen

If you go out when the sky is dark (a little after 10 pm daylight saving time in most of Australia), and look east you will see the bright star Sirius almost dead ahead of you. This blue white star is the brightest in the sky, and is unmistakeable, off to the left (north) is the distinctive "saucepan" that forms the Belt of Orion the Hunter. Above the Saucepan is a bright blue-white star, Rigel. To the right (south) of Sirus and Rigel is the next brightest star in the sky, yellow Canopus.

These stars will be your guide to the comet. If you look up upwards from Sirius, your sight will intersect an imaginary line between Rigel and Canopus. Looking a bit south of this intersection there is a pair of dimmer, but still easy to see, stars. Phract and Wazn are the brightest stars in the constellation of the Dove.

Comet Lovejoy forms the apex of a triangle pointing towards Sirius with these stars as the triangles base.

To the unaided eye the comet will look like a dim fuzzy dot. In binoculars it is decent sized fuzzy ball, about a quarter the size of the Moon, and a telescope a very obvious fuzzy ball, perhaps with a hint of a tail. You may need to find it in binoculars first before it is apparent to the unaided eye. There is no comparable cluster or nebula in the region to confuse it with.

The printable charts above can help you with your quest. For telescope users, the image will be upside down compared to the charts. Remember, when looking for the comet allow at least 5
minutes for your eyes to adjust and become dark adapted. Here's some hints on dark adaption
of your eyes. If using the charts above, cover your torch with red cellophane so as to not destroy your night vision.

As well, Mars will be low on the horizon with the crescent Moon next to it, so Christmas night is the prefect time for a comet hunt! Have a merry one!

Aurora Alert NOW! 23 December

Kp has hit 6 and the IPS has issued an aurora alert. However Bz
remains positive but there have been reports of unaided eye aurora
from Tasmanian and some NZ observers.

Worth having a look.

As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, recently
beams have been reported too. As usual, dark sky sites will have the
best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes
for your eyes to become dark adapted.

SUBJ: IPS AURORA ALERT HIGH LATITUDES
ISSUED AT 1220 UT ON 23 Dec 2014 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES
FROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE
Follow the progress of this event on the IPS web site
by following the links to the Space Weather Status Panel,
Home > Space Weather

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Evolution of a comets tail: Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy from 14-19 November 2014

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy 14-12-14

15-12-14

16-12-14

17-12-14

18-12-14

19-12-14

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is brightening nicely in the sky, and its tail is doing some interesting things. This is a sequence from 14 December to 19 December, all at roughly 3:00am on their respective days (except the 16th, that was closer to 11:30 pm). The images from the 14th and 15th are strongly light affected.

You can see significant changes in the spae of the tail and the secondary spikes. Click to embiggen to see more detail.

Images are 3x180 second luminance images Bin 2 taken with iTelescopeT12. They were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker the cropped, inverted and intensity adjusted in ImageJ. North is to the top and east to the left in these images, which have been inverted to bring the tail out. Image intensity is not constant as I was aiming to bring out the tail detail, rather than insuring magnitudes were consistent from image to image.

18-12-14. 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted

19-12-14. 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted

For comparison, the images are 5x180 second luminance images stacked in ImageJ on the comet and a MEDIAN Z project taken then inverted. This gives a lot more tail detail than the DSS stack, even given that the intensity has been turned way up in the bottom two images.

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy, 19 December 2014

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 19-12-14 with my Canon IXUS point and
shoot. 10x 15 second exposures ISO 400 stacked with deep sky stacker.
and cropped to the region of interest, showing Pi (bottom) and Nu (top)
Pupis and the comet (Click to embiggen)

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 14-12-14 with my Canon IXUS point and
shoot. 10x 15 second exposures ISO 400 stacked with deep sky stacker.
and cropped to the region of interest, showing Nu (top right)
Pupis and the comet (Click to embiggen)

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy continues to delight. I missed it for a few day due to Nerd Night and clouds, but tonight the skies were clear and it was an easy catch in 10x50 binoculars from my suburban site.

This time I tried estimating the magnitude by the defocussing method. From the refernece stars I estimate it is between magnitude 6.3 and 5.9. Still brighter than the predicted 6.4, but well on the way to around magnitude 5 (unaided eye visible) by Christmas.

Aurora Alert 19-20 December

A geomagnetic alert and aurora watch has been issued by the Australian IPS, the activity is due to a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection. The activity is likley to peak late
in the evening of the 19th to the early morning of the 20th, possibly lasting to the night of the 20th.

If aurora occur, this may be visible in Tasmania, New Zealand, and possibly Southern Vic, WA and
Southern South Australia. However, geomagnetic storms are fickle, and the storm may arrive in daylight or may fizzle out entirely .. or might just be spectacular.

As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, recently beams have been reported too. As usual, dark sky sites will have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 18 to Thursday December 25

The New Moon is Monday December 22. Earth is at solstice at this time. Venus is low in the evening
sky and is visited by the Moon on the 23rd. Mars is easily visible
in the early evening. Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky. Saturn returns to the morning sky, the Moon is close to Saturn on the 20th. Comet C/2102 Q2 Lovejoy is easily visible in
binoculars in
the early evening and may become visible to the unaided eye.

The New Moon is Monday December 22. Earth is at solstice, when the days are longest, at this time.

Evening sky on Tuesday December 23 looking west as seen from Adelaide at
21:00
(9:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. The thin crescent Moon is close to Venus and Mercury. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Mercury is low in the twilight, and may be visible by the end of the week.

Venus
is still difficult to see low on the western horizon in the twilight. At
civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is just under a hand-span
above the horizon. While Venus is bright you will need a flat, clear horizon like the
ocean to see it. On the 23rd Venus is visited by the thin crescent Moon.

Mars
is easily seen in the western evening sky, setting around 11:30 daylight saving time. Mars was
at opposition, when it
is biggest and brightest, on the 9th of April, and
is still
readily distinguishable as the bright red/orange object above the western horizon in the early evening.

Mars is in the constellation of Capricornius.

Morning sky on Saturday December 20 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:00 am ACDST showing Saturn and the crescent Moon. The inset shows Jupiter's Moons on the 22nd at 3:00 am. Jupiter is the brightest object above the northern horizon. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn returns to the morning sky. On the 20th, it is very close to the crescent Moon, low on the horizon.

Jupiter
rises higher in the morning sky, and now is easy to see above the
horizon before twilight. Jupiter is the brightest object above the
northern horizon. It is now not far from the bright star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion).

Jupiter is now high enough for good telescopic observation before
astronomical twilight. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good display, and there is an occulation of Europa and an transit of Io and Europa on the 22nd at 3 am.

Evening sky on Saturday December 20 looking south-east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00
(10:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is below Canopus. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

It is brightest in January, but is
easily visible in binoculars now and people in dark sky sites have been
able to see it with the unaided eye. Binoculars or small telescopes show
it as a definite fuzzy patch. Instructions on viewing the comet and
printable finding charts can be found here.

By Christmas, especially if you are out camping somewhere dark, it
may be visible to the unaided eye as a fuzzy star moving rapidly from
night to night.This might be something special for Christams night or Christmas eve.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with the comet brightening rapidly in the early evening sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Images of Comet Lovejoy, 2014's Christmas Comet

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 29 November 2014. iTelescopeT12, 5x3minute exposures Bin 2, stacked in ImageJ and Median image extracted. Click to embiggen to see the faint tail.

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 14 December 2014. iTelescope T12,
5x3minute exposures Bin 2, stacked in ImageJ and Median image extracted. Click to
embiggen to see the tail and the galaxy.

I think the two images above give a good idea of how rapidly comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy has brightened. Taken just two weeks apart (okay 15 days) under the same exposure conditions the comet and its tail has brightened dramatically (and I have had to use less drastic measures to brighten the comet to show its tail).

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken on 14-12-14 with my Canon IXUS point and shoot. 10x 15 second exposures ISO 400 stacked with deep sky stacker. and cropped to the region of interest, showing Pi (bottom) and Nu (top) Pupis and the comet (Click to embiggen)

Can't see the comet? I have circled it for you. It is close to a magnitude 7 star, but it is the fuzzy one.

AS I said before, there are now several reliable reports of the comet being seen with the unaided eye at dark sky sites. This might be an outburst and the comet will fade again. Or it might be ongoing as suggested by the consistency of recent observations, and we might get a peak around magnitude 4.

A Christmas Comet? C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy brightens rapidly

Path of the comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy as it brightens in December skies. This printable black and white chart is for 10 pm AEDST looking east (click to embiggen). Already easily visible in binoculars, there are reports of it being visible to the unaided eye.

Animation of the path for the comet during December simulated in Stellarium. The view is to the east and at 10:00 pm AEDST.

Terry Lovejoy has done it again! After C/2011 W3 Lovejoy, which was also a Christmas comet, he has found us another great comet. C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is brightening rapidly. Currently the comet is around a full magnitude brighter than predicted, and there are multiple reliable reports that is is now (faintly) visible to the unaided eye.

There is every possibility the comet may reach magnitude 4. While it will not have the magnificent tail developed by C/2011 W3, and will only be a fuzzy dot to the unaided eye, it will be the brightest comet we will have seen in southern skies since Terry's previous Christmas comet, and you won't have to get up at 4 am to see it.

More detailed views of the path of C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy suitable for guiding binocular viewing (also facing east). Click to embiggen for printing.

Photorealistic simulation of the skies of the 14th December at 10:00 pm AEDST. There are several clear stellar signpost to help you find the comet.

Look to the east when looking for the comet, after 10 pm the sky will be dark enough for hunting the comet. It is currently very easy to see in 10x50 binoculars as a fuzzy ball (and a snap in small telescopes). There are lots of reasonably bright stars which you can use to star hop to the comet using the charts above (and when using the charts, don't forhe to cover your torch with red cellophane to avoid destroying your night vision).

A binocular chart suitable for the next week.The comet is between Pi and Nu Puppis (see charts above to orient yourself to the stars location). Click to embiggen and print

At the moment, the comet is above the distinctive star cluster around the bright star pi Puppis (see black and white maps above). Alternatively, if you draw a line between Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and Canopus. for the next week or so the comet will be around 2/3rd of the distance to Canopus. A little hunting around the area with binoculars will soon reveal the comet. There are lots of star clusters around the area, but none will have the fuzzy ball appearance of the comet.

When going out, allow at least 5
minutes for your eyes to adjust and become dark adapted. Here's some hints on dark adaption
of your eyes so you will not be disappointed in your comet hunt. Also the later at night the darker the sky and the higher the comet will be. While it is readily visible in suburban locations (like mine, where I saw it tonight), dark sky sites are best. So if you are going camping at Christmas, go look for it!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Geminid Meteor Shower 14-15 December 2014

The northern horizon at 4:00 am ACDST as seen from Southern Australia
(northern Australia is similar but Gemini and the radiant is higher in
the sky) on Monday December 15. The Geminid radiant is marked with a starburst (click to embiggen).

The Geminids are
unusual in that their parent body is 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid, rather
than a comet. It is speculated though that Phaeton is actually a "gassed
out" comet, and so the debris that makes up the Geminids may still be
cometary particles. The Geminids are a fairly reliable meteor shower and although this
year moonlight will interfere a bit, but some decent meteors should be seen.

Unlike the Leonids, where there is a
very narrow peak of high activity, the Geminids have a broad
peak and will show good activity well before and after the peak, and on
the day before and after.The peak is December 14, 12h00m UT. That is midnight December 15 in Australia. However, the radiant doesn't rise until just
before midnight (daylight saving time) in most of Australia, so you will
still have to disturb your sleep for this one.

Despite the peak occurring before radiant rise, and the influence of the last quarter Moon, Australians should see
a meteor every three to four minutes under dark skies in the early
morning of the 15th, between 2:00 am and 4:00 am local time. You can
find predictions for your local site at the meteor flux estimator (choose 4 Geminids and date 14-15 December, don't forget to change the date to 2015).

At
1.00 am in the morning AEDST (midnight, AEST) Castor (alpha Geminorum)
is about two hand-spans above the horizon and 10 hand-spans to the left of
due north. Pollux, the other twin, is less than a hand-span to the left
again. The radiant is just below Pollux.

When you get up, allow at least 5
minutes for your eyes to adjust and become dark adapted (even if you
have stumbled out of bed in the dark, here's some hints on dark adaption
of your eyes so you can see meteors better) and be patient, it may be
several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a
couple will come along in quick succession (a meteor every three minutes
is an average, they won't turn up like a ticking clock but more or less
randomly).

Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe
of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with street
lights getting in your eyes. The darker the spot the better (but
do be sensible, don't choose a spot in an insalubrious park for
example). While the radiant is where the meteors appear to originate
from, most of the meteors will be seen away from the radiant, so don't
fixate on the radiant, but keep your eye on a broad swath of sky
roughly centred just above the radiant (as the radiant doesn't rise very
high, looking exactly at the radiant will mean you miss some higher
up).

A lawn chair or something similar will make your observing
comfortable (or a picnic rug spread on the ground and a nice pillow),
and having a Thermos of hot coffee, tea or chocolate to swig while
watching will increase your comfort. Despite it being summer, make sure
you have a jumper or something as the night can still get cold

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 11 to Thursday December 18

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday December 15. Venus is low in the evening sky. Mars is easily visible
in the early evening. Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky, the Moon is near Jupiter on December 11. Comet C/2102 Q2 Lovejoy visible in binoculars in
the early evening. Geminid meteor shower on the morning of the 15th.

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday December 15. The Moon is at apogee, furthest from the Earth, on the 13th.

Evening sky on Saturday December 13 looking west as seen from Adelaide at
22:00
(10:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Venus
is very difficult to see low on the western horizon in the twilight. At
civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is a mere 4 finger-widths
above the horizon. While Venus is bright it might be possible to see not
long after sunset, but you will need a flat, clear horizon like the
ocean to see it.

Mars
is easily seen in the western evening sky, setting just before midnight. Mars was
at opposition, when it
is biggest and brightest, on the 9th of April, and
is still
readily distinguishable as the bright red/orange object above the western horizon in the early evening.

Mars is in the constellation of Capricornius.

Morning sky on Friday December 12 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:00 am ACDST. Jupiter is above the north-east horizon and not far from the Moon. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiter
rises higher in the morning sky, and now is easy to see above the
horizon before twilight. Jupiter is the brightest object above the
northern horizon. It is now not far from the bright star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion).

Jupiter is now high enough for good telescopic observation before
astronomical twilight. On Thursday December 12 Jupiter is near the
waning Moon.

Evening sky on Saturday December 13 looking south-east as seen from Adelaide at 22:00
(10:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is below Canopus. Similar views will be seen elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is brightening in the sky much faster than expected.
The comet is passing below the star Canopus heading towards Orion,
passing above Canis Major. It is brightest in January, but should be
easily visible in binoculars as the
Moon leaves the evening sky. Binoculars or small telescopes should show
it as a small fuzzy patch with maybe the hint of a tail. A B and W printable
spotters map is available here , the large circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars.

At
magnitude 7.8 you will need to let your eyes adapt to darkness to see
the comet clearly. UPDATE! the comet is brightening rapidly, it is already magnitude 7!

The northern horizon at 4:00 am ACDST as seen from Southern Australia
(northern Australia is similar but Gemini and the radiant is higher in
the sky) on Monday December 15. The Geminid radiant is marked with a starburst .

The Geminids are a fairly reliable meteor shower and this
year moonlight will partly interfere.

Unlike the Leonids, where there is a
very narrow peak of high activity, the Geminids have a broad
peak and will show good activity well before and after the peak, and on
the day before and after.

The radiant doesn't rise until just
before midnight (daylight saving time) in most of Australia, so you will
still have to disturb your sleep for this one. Australians should see
a meteor every three to four minutes under dark skies in the early
morning of the 15th, between 1:00 am and 4:00 am local time. You can
find predictions for your local site at the meteor flux estimator (choose 4 Geminids and date 14-15 December, don't forget to change the date to 2014).

At
1.00 am in the morning AEDST (midnight, AEST) Castor (alpha Geminorum)
is about two handspans above the horizon and 10 handspans to the left of
due north. Pollux, the other twin, is less than a handspan to the left
again. The radiant is just below Pollux.

As well, Orion and the
Hyades will be visible and bright Jupiter will be nearby. So it will be a
quite nice morning for sky watching. Keep an eye out for satellites!

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Mars prominent in the early evening sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.